Alleviating Financial Stress for the Sake of Your Health

Stress can do horrible things to your body. While everyone’s body reacts to it differently, some of the common ways stress manifests itself is through headaches, migraines, stomachaches, sleep deprivation, ulcers, and panic attacks. My own personal stress hell is listed above, but I won’t go into detail. Suffice it to say, I try to avoid and mitigate stress as much as possible. This is especially true of financial stress, as this seems to be the worst kind. I’ve witnessed firsthand the effects of financial stress on the moods, relationships and health of the people in my life. It is partly why I made a resolution so young to live frugally and to stash away as much of my paycheck as possible. My thoughts have always been that if I stash enough money away then financial stress will not enter my life.

While I would love to say that my strategy has paid off and I have had no financial stress of my own, it would be a false statement. This is partly because of circumstances—being laid off twice—and partly because of the pressure I put on myself when it comes to meeting financial goals and beyond. Even if I did have millions of dollars, wealthy individuals are also not immune to physical effects from financial stress. Chef Gordon Ramsay discusses the enormous amount of financial stress he was under when his business was on the brink of bankruptcy in 2009. He took such measures as running at 4:30 in the morning with 20 kilograms of weights to relieve the pressure. During the Michael Jackson trial, it was argued that Michael was so stressed over his failing finances and huge obligations that he resorted to a deadly concoction of drugs to sleep and otherwise sedate himself.

So, how do we deal with something that everyone seems to go through, and that can be quite detrimental to our health? I’ll share with you some of my stress-antidotes.

Gain Perspective

One of the ways that I immediately take my stress level down is by asking whether or not I and/or my family and friends are in a life or death situation. This helps me to gain perspective on the situation, and I feel relief almost immediately. Another quick solution with almost immediate results is watching a horror movie. You may not like them, but after viewing one I can say things are not so bad. After all, I am not being chased by vampires, serial killers, or werewolves. A final way I have found that helps with gaining perspective is to watch or involve myself in something greater than my small, little life. Whether this be through religion, watching something like Planet Earth, or focusing on helping others, realizing my problems are a very small detail of this world that we live in really helps get them off of my back. These methods are very effective for me; however, I find that the effects of them are short-term. I believe to truly get rid of the stress, we must take action.

Take the First Step

A lot of stress is created by delaying action. We feel stress when we are not in control of something. Our minds are allowed to create a lot of scenarios (and most of them far exaggerated) while stuck in a holding pattern and moving nowhere. There is a sort of comfort in paralysis because we know what the situation is in the place we are currently at. To work our way out of something means going into the unknown. This is what creates what I like to call mental obstacles to things that are ordinarily very easy (making a phone call, sending in a form, etc.). Instead of sitting around stressing about something, I personally like to delve right in as soon as possible because taking something head on always alleviates the stress.

Taking the first step could mean a multitude of things depending on what financial situation you are facing (IRS issues, creditors calling, paying for college, debt questions, cash flow problems, saving money for something you wish to do, etc.). But I think every problem is first tackled by getting informed. This means calling someone to ask questions, doing research, and seeking help. I find that getting information about something not only alleviates part of the stress, but usually makes the situation much less scary than the scenarios I have created in my head. Once you are informed, chances are you will know what to do next, thus moving the process along to its eventual resolution.

Box the Situation Up to Establish some Boundaries

I have found that if I let it, my mind will continue wrapping itself around a situation ad nauseam. It creeps into my sleep, while I am working on something, when I shower, eat, etc. Since finances affect many areas of our lives, it is only natural that you might be thinking about your particular financial situation all of the time. Something to learn to do is to box up the problem and stash it away for times when you can make progress on it. Otherwise, you will worry your life away (literally!). The way that I work on this is ask the question “is there anything I can do about this right now?” If the answer is no, then I push it out of my mind.

Find a Stress Reliever

Dance it out, do some yoga, go for a run; you need to find something physical to release the stress that has built up inside of you. Once when I had to meet with the owner of a company I worked for about a project that was not going well (I was the junior working on the project, but no less stressful), I tensed up all over. To keep my body loose and functioning for what amounted to a very bad week, I did 4-6 sun salutations each morning right before heading out the door. It truly did help.

Just like stress affects everyone’s body differently, what works to alleviate your stress may be different from someone else. I hope I’ve given you some good starters in alleviating your stress, and helping you move forward to the eventual resolution.

Do you have any financial stressors right now? What are some ways you de-stress and work through the situation?